Disney is revamping the California Adventure, their brain-damaged theme-parklet next door to Disneyland. Built with the "assistance" of some high-priced McKinsey consultants (the same consultants who advised them to cut back on the maintenance regimen in Disneyland, a suggestion that has led to several near-fatal accidents and at least one fatality), the California Adventure is a prime example of what happens when a company abandons its visionary roots.
Walt built Disneyland because he wanted a park where kids and grownups could play together, where ripoff midway games and nauseous midway rides took a back-seat to storytelling, wonder and art.
California Adventure was built by repurposing rides from other parks, buying off-the-shelf rides from midway suppliers, and tossing in a bunch of those awful ripoff midway ring-toss games. Many of the rides are either kid or adult-specific, and the park offers little by way of storytelling, wonder or art, having no strong thematic continuity and attractions that you can find in your local travelling carny.
Disney's Parks and Resorts Chairman weasels around on this:
"People want new stories to be told," Pressler said. "But there are also some truths. When you try to push the envelope a little in terms of sophistication, it doesn't resonate as well inside the park as outside the park."
Vomitous coasters, ring-toss and whirling swings are "sophistication?"
